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Why the conventional wisdom on how to grow muscles is wrong

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Re: Why the conventional wisdom on how to grow muscles is wrong

#111

Post by bcrosby95 »

jasondigitized wrote: post #7

"Everybody wants to be a bodybuilder, but nobody wants to lift no heavy-ass weights." - Ronnie Coleman I have gained quite a bit of muscle mass after building out a home gym during covid. I'm no scientist but following the Reddit PPL[1] workout and eating lots of protein did the trick for me. [1] - https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/37ylk5/a_linear_pr...

It really depends on your goals. If you have a sedentary job and just don't always want to be the weakest person in the room, something like stronglift's 5x5 or simply starting strength will get you way more bang for your buck (and time).

I've been doing starting strength for about 14 years now and I can bang out a session in 30-45 minutes.

Re: Why the conventional wisdom on how to grow muscles is wrong

#112

Post by beezle »

goldfeld wrote: post #38
robviren wrote: post #34

I'm still curious about actual rep tempo and what role that plays in growth. If maximizing work is the measure of growth than all that really matters is how much acceleration I can put into a weight. Obviously proper form plays a role, just a difficult balance between ensuring proper form and dumping as much force into a rep. I ascribe to the possible bro science of longer eccentric motion being a useful tactic in my…

On the contrary, if you do it really slow it's a whole other game, and proper form is king, and number of reps is a silly measure because by doing slowly you cannot keep your normal repetitions.

This. So many guys wing stuff around using momentum or gravity. Positive and negative rep should be at similar, fully in control speeds.

Re: Why the conventional wisdom on how to grow muscles is wrong

#113

Post by leidenfrost »

epistemer wrote: post #66
jasondigitized wrote: post #7

"Everybody wants to be a bodybuilder, but nobody wants to lift no heavy-ass weights." - Ronnie Coleman I have gained quite a bit of muscle mass after building out a home gym during covid. I'm no scientist but following the Reddit PPL[1] workout and eating lots of protein did the trick for me. [1] - https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/37ylk5/a_linear_pr...

I have lifted for 30 years. The standard bullshit line in the fitness industry has always been "everyone else is wrong". Practically what every single trainer ever in the world has said. The reason is because of all the things I have done in my life, lifting is the most trivially simple activity there is. It is as complex as shoveling dirt. The only way to differentiate if trying to make money is to bullshit. Pick th…

For those who want to look athletic enough, work a full time job and still have free time, sure.

Actual competitive bodybuilding is far more complicated.

Re: Why the conventional wisdom on how to grow muscles is wrong

#114

Post by matwood »

dhd415 wrote: post #31

This article is focused on growth in muscle _size_ over growth in muscle _strength_. The two are related, but it's pretty well-established that you can bias your training towards one or the other. You can see the difference between experienced powerlifters and bodybuilders. PLs move heavier weights than BBs, but the latter generally have more muscle mass. I think training for strength has more everyday health benefit…

This is a bit of misconception. Body builders are also very strong. If you body weight adjust, many are probably similar strength wise to PLs.

The strongest PLs are just big.

I focused for years only on PL and I also got as big based on how much food I allowed myself to eat.

100% agree, that everyone should just move heavy weights. Looking good, muscles, etc... will follow.

Re: Why the conventional wisdom on how to grow muscles is wrong

#115

Post by DrThunder »

jasondigitized wrote: post #7

"Everybody wants to be a bodybuilder, but nobody wants to lift no heavy-ass weights." - Ronnie Coleman I have gained quite a bit of muscle mass after building out a home gym during covid. I'm no scientist but following the Reddit PPL[1] workout and eating lots of protein did the trick for me. [1] - https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/37ylk5/a_linear_pr...

Yep. Maybe I'm lucky but it's a pretty simple formula for me.

Lift weights 3-4 times a week, cardio outdoors 2 times a week. I drink a whey protein shake with creatine after every workout and don't eat more calories than I burn.

My lifts are continuing to increase and I'm putting on muscle. I'm still under 40 so once my testosterone drops I'm sure that'll get harder.

Re: Why the conventional wisdom on how to grow muscles is wrong

#116

Post by leidenfrost »

klyrs wrote: post #64
jasondigitized wrote: post #7

"Everybody wants to be a bodybuilder, but nobody wants to lift no heavy-ass weights." - Ronnie Coleman I have gained quite a bit of muscle mass after building out a home gym during covid. I'm no scientist but following the Reddit PPL[1] workout and eating lots of protein did the trick for me. [1] - https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/37ylk5/a_linear_pr...

> "Everybody wants to be a bodybuilder, but nobody wants to lift no heavy-ass weights." - Ronnie Coleman I don't wanna look like a bodybuilder but if I could stay skinny and shark the highland games I'd be tickled pink.

This.

I want to look athletic enough so I can put a shirt on without having my belly being the part that stands out the most.

I don't want to look BIG necessarily.

Re: Why the conventional wisdom on how to grow muscles is wrong

#117

Post by thenerdhead »

Why start with the "you're wrong and I'm right premise"?. The author suggests that science is the only path forward and especially that their science is the right science to follow.

The best advice I've read is from Ross Edgley in one of his books who said to "Train as often as you need to, not as often as you can."

I just find some of these arguments to be silly. Both groups of people obtain similar results whether one of the groups is doing more or doing it "wrong". There has to be a margin of error in this that shows these arguments largely don't matter.

The body is adaptable. Those doing low intensity high volume vs. high intensity low volume is the same argument of strength improves stamina and vice versa most of the time in a 80/20 (aerobic/anaerobic) fashion. Both groups adapt.

Re: Why the conventional wisdom on how to grow muscles is wrong

#118

Post by bnralt »

goalieca wrote: post #26

21 comments and not one person mentioned steroids. These are extremely common and are an open secret. All of these bodybuilders who share their routines and meal plans rarely mention what cycles they are on and the long term health consequences of such after their career has finished.

It’s an issue - a lot of people just want to be decently fit, so they look online for advice. But the people populating forums and putting up blogs are usually bodybuilder types who that are on steroids and have been lifting since they were teenagers. There seems to be a lot of body dysmorphia in the community as well (“The day you start lifting is the day you become forever small”).

The needs and goals of these two groups of people are going to be so drastically different that a lot of the advice is going to end up being counterproductive.

Re: Why the conventional wisdom on how to grow muscles is wrong

#119

Post by xiphias2 »

codingclaws wrote: post #94

The article nor the comments here mention the most important factor: caloric surplus. It it possible to reduce body fat while staying at the same weight, but the muscle gains will be much slower.

It's great, and there's another factor missing from the article: age.

Both muscle recovery time and high calory count without adding on fat depends on age as the number one factor.

Re: Why the conventional wisdom on how to grow muscles is wrong

#120

Post by kortex »

dr_petes wrote: post #45
goalieca wrote: post #26

21 comments and not one person mentioned steroids. These are extremely common and are an open secret. All of these bodybuilders who share their routines and meal plans rarely mention what cycles they are on and the long term health consequences of such after their career has finished.

Steroids are illegal in most countries. You don’t win an award by sharing your illegal hobby in the open. For perspective, if a top pro shared their exact stack, there would be tons of teenagers who have never lifted do the exact stack. Which, as you mention, would have negative long therm consequences.

Yes, steroids are technically illegal, but they are typically Sch 4, and are just about the "softest" kind of illegal. As in, it's pretty trivial to find vendor willing to ship you a kilo of "cellulose" or other paper-thin cover for white powder that will easily skate through customs.

There's near zero enforcement for steroids, so yes it does end up as an open secret.

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